On Tuesday at the Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, and Hayley Matthews led West Indies to a signature win in the final group stage match of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup.
The Maroon Warriors beat England by six wickets to secure a spot in the semifinals of the global showcase.
The contest was a virtual quarterfinal. The winner was guaranteed a spot in the knockout phase of the tournament. The losing team would almost certainly have to pack their bags.
Still bothered by a balky knee, top-order batter and former captain Stafanie Taylor was left out, as was Mandy Mangru. Retaking their spots in the XI were Chedean Nation and teenager Zaida James.
Matthews won the toss and decided to bowl against the team at the top of Group B, the number two outfit in the world. Matthews disposed of Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who made 16, caught by Deandra Dottin. Dottin then had Alice Capsey run out for one, and Maia Bouchier was caught by Joseph off the bowling of Fletcher for 14.
England were 34-3 after six overs, and after 60 legal deliveries, they were still just on 61, though they had suffered no further loss of wickets.
The Englishwomen did lose their captain Heather Knight (21* from 13) to a calf injury, however, which also kept her off the field for the second innings. They laboured to triple figures off 93 balls, thanks to Nat Sciver-Brunt, whose 50 came off 45 balls, with four boundaries. She ended unbeaten with 57 off 50.
Brought back in to bowl at the back end of the innings, Fletcher took two more wickets and kept the run rate down. The Grenadian veteran also matched the West Indies women’s record for most T20I wickets in a calendar year, 22, a mark Taylor set in 2012.
England were held to 141-7, Fletcher 3-21, Matthews 2-35, and Dottin 1-16 in three overs to go with three catches and a run out.
Out came Matthews and Joseph to get the West Indies innings underway, Matthews for her 100th T20I, including three for Barbados at the Commonwealth Games. And after a lean start to the competition, she has been absolutely on fire for West Indies.
Off the first over from Lauren Bell, Matthews hit two fours and a six. Joseph faced the next five balls from Sciver-Brunt, and they went for 11, including two fours.
The England innings had produced 11 fours and one six. Inside the first six overs of the West Indies innings, Matthews and Joseph, teammates with the Barbados Royals, had hit 11 fours and two sixes between them, taking the score to 67 without loss.
Their barrage went unabated, 89-0 after 10, and speeding to 100 in 68 balls. Their 50 had come up in just 27 deliveries, with Joseph 32 and Matthews 18. By the 10th over drinks break, Joseph was already on 49, on the brink of a maiden half-century.
She concluded her milestone off 34 balls, with six fours and two sixes, but got out shortly after, for 52. Matthews made her 14th international 50 off 37 balls, inclusive of seven fours and a six.
Shemaine Campbelle was run out for five, but the devastating Dottin plundered 27 from just 19 deliveries, including two big maximums, to put her team on the brink of victory. Another Barbadian, Aaliyah Alleyne, hit an unbeaten eight from four balls to finish things off, West Indies winning with 12 deliveries and six wickets still in hand, finishing on 144-4.
“I don’t think many people had us (as semifinalists),” admitted Matthews. “Incredibly proud of the group. Up against the odds tonight but to put up a performance like that with the bat, Joseph scoring her first T20I fifty – what a time to do that.
“We have been chasing (before in this tournament) and we back ourselves to knock off whatever runs are put on the board. Important to take tomorrow off but to then get right back to it. We have not won the World Cup yet.”
Asked what advice she got from her captain, player of the match, Joseph said: “She told me to just back myself and to watch the ball, and go through with the line of the ball. I was real aggressive at the start and that followed me through my innings. It was a bit challenging at first but I backed myself and played through the line.”
West Indies joined South Africa as qualifying from Group B. The result means that the Maroon Warriors will face New Zealand in Friday’s second semifinal, with the Proteas to play defending champions Australia on Thursday.
The winners of Sunday’s final will receive the most prize money in the history of the tournament, with all four semifinalists also in line for big boosts compared to previous World Cups.
PHOTO: CAPTION: Saint Lucia’s Qiana Joseph hit her first international 50. Credit: ICC/Getty
